29
029 ― God of the Ice Valley
The underground labyrinth without light. Jin-woo slowly walked through the passage, relying on the light of his lantern.
What he brought was a lantern used for cave exploration or outdoor work, something worn on the head. A handheld flashlight could be inconvenient when combat broke out.
'They said securing light is the most important thing on the 2nd floor.'
There was almost no light in the underground labyrinth. Almost none meant there was a little bit, and as he walked, he could occasionally see crystals that emitted light.
Crystals that grew sparsely on walls, ceilings, or floors. Their light was like starlight floating in the night sky, so they were called starlight crystals.
They had more light output than expected, but even so, they couldn't compare to lanterns made with modern science. However.
'Just in case, let me collect some.'
There might be a case where all the lanterns, including the spares, broke or the batteries ran out. If that happened, Jin-woo would lose all the light he brought.
It probably wouldn't happen under normal circumstances, but just in case, Jin-woo collected all the noticeable starlight crystals and stored them in his inventory.
As he collected them, he learned why starlight crystals were so rare and sparse.
'Everyone else besides me is collecting and carrying them around, too.'
That's why there are so few crystals. Probably in the old days, there were enough lights to brightly illuminate the passages. It was just speculation, though.
Anyway, after proceeding like that for about two hours.
He still hadn't encountered anyone. All he could see were bugs and centipedes. There were no other life forms at all.
'No blue flames either.'
Thanks to his ability to detect blue flames, Jin-woo could move around much more stably than others, but during these two hours, the only blue flames detected were from bugs.
If there was nothing like this, it would be reasonable to let his guard down a bit, but Jin-woo didn't.
Even if nothing was detected, this was his first time coming to this world. With the same feeling as when he first entered the 1st floor Primeval Forest, Jin-woo kept all his senses sharp throughout his body.
That's why when an arrow suddenly flew from the darkness, he could react quickly.
'Gasp!'
An arrow flew from that distant place where light didn't reach. Jin-woo immediately stuck to the wall and dodged the arrow. Almost simultaneously, another arrow flew, which he deflected with his sword.
'Is it a trap?'
He thought so for a moment, but it wasn't.
Creeeeak... Crackle...
The beings visible beyond the light were three skeletons. Two holding bows and one holding a large shield.
'Undead monsters! Undead monsters don't have blue flames!'
Jin-woo was quite surprised by the first undead monsters he encountered.
Thinking about it, it was natural. Undead referred to monsters that don't die, but in fact, they weren't immortal, but rather monsters that were already dead.
Dead corpses are moving under some kind of power. It was natural that there were no blue flames inside them.
'First, let me take care of them.'
The skeletons' movements were very slow. The two skeleton archers that had just shot arrows took more than a minute to nock and fire arrows again.
In one minute, Jin-woo could swing his sword dozens of times.
Craaack!
Jin-woo, who had easily disposed of the three skeletons, frowned.
Skeletons were among the lowest grade undead, so they weren't difficult. But if stronger undead appeared, Jin-woo would also need to be sufficiently careful.
'I said I was being tense, but was I letting my guard down without knowing it? I was relying too much on my abilities.'
Since he became able to see these flames, there had been no life forms that Jin-woo couldn't detect.
Not only threatening enemies but even grass blades and bug flames could be detected, so it was inevitable. Rather, Jin-woo had such an excellent ability that he needed to filter out the vast amount of information.
Because it was so excellent, the side effects were now showing. He was becoming dependent on it without knowing.
'...Let me return to my original intention. When I first entered a Gate, I didn't have such abilities either.'
He was reminded of how many abilities he had awakened and how strong he had become.
Not just the ability to see blue flames, but he was probably heavily dependent on other abilities, too.
It wasn't bad since they were his own abilities. But in the end, abilities were just abilities. He must not forget that it was himself who wielded them.
―No matter how strong an ability you have, if you get hit by a blind arrow...
The words of his handler that he had been forgetting lately came to mind again.
Jin-woo, who had mentally armed himself again, picked up some of the bones scattered on the floor and collected a few. He also examined the equipment the skeletons had been holding.
The bow and arrows were ordinary. The shield the shield-bearer had been holding was nothing special either. Just a big, sturdy shield.
But one helmet worn by the archer was a bit unusual.
[ The curse of the sky god dwells within. You can see the farthest place, but you cannot see the closest place. ]
'Isn't this a magic item?'
It was a magic item, the main source of income from the 2nd floor, that was rare, uncommon, and therefore expensive.
The 2nd floor Underground Temple had no fruits, mushrooms, beasts, or fish like the 1st floor Primeval Forest. Then why do Hunters explore this place?
Because they can obtain magic items blessed or cursed by gods, like this helmet.
Magic items imbued with abilities were very rare and expensive. Therefore, obtaining just one could generate more profit than exploring the Primeval Forest for several days.
In other words, it was a place where there were opportunities to strike it rich.
The lack of food was a bit disappointing for Jin-woo personally, but in terms of profit alone, magic items were much better.
If he ever discovered an item with truly tremendous abilities, he would become a millionaire at that moment.
'Can see distant places.'
After checking the surroundings for safety, Jin-woo tried on the helmet.
As it said, he could see distant passages. He could see clearly even though they were passages without light.
But as the curse said, he couldn't see close places. Even when he tried to look at his own feet, he couldn't see them, and even when he tried to look at the wall right next to him, he couldn't see it.
Jin-woo immediately figured out what this helmet was.
'This is just binoculars.'
There were no lenses, but the function was completely identical. Although the visible viewing angle was quite different, the core function was exactly the same.
Naturally, for Jin-woo, who already had binoculars, a telescope, and even a periscope in his inventory, it was a completely unnecessary item. In the first place, there was no way to fight while wearing such a helmet.
'Sigh. It's disappointing, but well, it might sell to a collector.'
He had been excited since it was the first magic item he obtained with his own hands, but the result was quite subtle.
Still, compared to other loot that was no different from scrap metal, this was much better, so let's be satisfied with that.
After taking off the helmet and throwing it into his inventory, Jin-woo continued his exploration.
After that, he encountered and defeated several more skeletons. They were still opponents from whom he couldn't feel blue flames, but they couldn't hide the sounds of footsteps or bones clashing.
Relying on his hearing, Jin-woo could discover them first and smash them all with a single strike. Unfortunately, there were no more magic items.
'Oh.'
Then Jin-woo discovered what looked like the entrance to a room.
Quite bright light was coming out, so it was noticeable from far away, and along with the light, a cool chill was also seeping out.
When he went to look, there was a strange scene.
In the cool stone chamber, there was an altar placed, and it was an altar as cold as ice.
Next to the altar, flames that were the source of light were rising, and even from those flames, no warmth could be felt at all.
Rather, it was cold. When he put his hand in, it felt like he was touching cold smoke, like dry ice rather than fire.
[ The God of the Ice Valley welcomes you. If you offer a sacrifice, you will receive a greater welcome. ]
This was definitely an altar that gave buffs, which he had only heard about.
He heard that on the 2nd floor Underground Temple of the 13 Gods, there were such altars everywhere. If you offered tribute to those altars, there would be a temporary ability enhancement.
It was said that the core of 2nd floor exploration was finding such altars and acquiring buffs and blessings.
'Would something like this work as a sacrifice?'
Jin-woo placed several bone fragments he had picked up just in case after defeating skeletons on the altar.
Then the altar glowed briefly, and the bone fragments placed on it smoothly absorbed into the altar.
Then.
[ The God of the Ice Valley is angry. Do not play around. ]
The flames on both sides of the altar flared up much larger, as if angry. Whoosh! It was cold, which was fortunate, but if they had been ordinary hot flames, the entire room might have burned down.
'Oh no. Did I try to take shortcuts too much?'
Jin-woo hurriedly searched through his inventory to calm the god's anger. Actually, he had prepared an item in advance for when he discovered a god's altar.
'There was a strategy post on Hunter Net Blind.'
There was a database that numerous hunters who had already explored the 2nd floor had tried and verified.
「2nd Floor Essential Information! 13 Gods' Favorability Tribute List.」
It was information so important that the site administrator had pinned it as an announcement, and after seeing it, he had prepared tributes to offer to each god in advance.
Being in the second wave was good for this. You could easily obtain information that the first wave had discovered through trial and error.
'What the God of the Ice Valley likes are freshly killed bear or deer carcasses frozen solid. Or items inscribed with powerful ice magic.'
With those, he could obtain the highest level of blessing. But they were too difficult to obtain.
Items were too expensive to offer as one-time sacrifices, and he had no idea how to obtain freshly killed bears frozen solid.
Instead, there were items that were a bit weaker than those, but much cheaper and cost-effective.
Jin-woo took out three bowls of shaved ice and placed them on the altar.
Mango shaved ice topped with abundant mango, red bean shaved ice covered with red beans, and melon shaved ice in a melon bowl.
'They said he really likes cold sweets like shaved ice or ice cream.'
That's why he had carefully bought expensive ones. These were desserts that would have made Jin-woo, before his awakening, tremble when buying even one bowl.
But now that he had some leeway, Jin-woo had tried one bowl, and there had never been a dessert he had eaten so deliciously in his life.
The finely shaved ice didn't taste like plain water but was sweet with something added, and the toppings on top were abundant. Among the toppings, there were small, chewy rice cakes that were particularly to Jin-woo's liking.
Anyway, he had ordered one bowl at the store to eat and packed several more bowls to put in his inventory. Since time doesn't pass in the inventory, the shaved ice he took out now was exactly as it had been when freshly made at the store.
The altar glowed like before, and the shaved ice disappeared.
[ The God of the Ice Valley is satisfied. You have been recognized as worthy of receiving blessings. ]
The money spent on three bowls of shaved ice was about 150,000 won.
With that 150,000 won, he had obtained a god's blessing.
[ You will no longer shiver from cold, and your mind will become solid like ice. If you possess cold energy, it will become even colder. ]
The favorability must have accumulated quite a bit, as the blessing was also generous.
Indeed, the knowledge of the first wave couldn't be ignored. It was a very satisfactory result for Jin-woo, too.
'Cold energy... That must mean something like ice magic. It's a pity I don't have that.'
What was effective for Jin-woo was not feeling cold anymore, and his mind becoming solid.
Those two effects alone were excellent enough.
***
Since he had found a room for the first time in a while, Jin-woo made this place his base camp.
After all, a room where he only needed to guard the entrance was much more comfortable to stay in than passages that were open front and back.
He hung blackout curtains at the entrance so light wouldn't leak out, and laid out a foldable three-layer mattress on the floor.
There were flames next to the altar, but since they were cold flames, something unheard of and unseen, he also lit a separate campfire next to the mattress.
When completed, a quite decent hideout was finished, and Jin-woo satisfactorily finished his meal. What he ate today was soybean paste stew with plenty of beef brisket and white rice.
He hadn't cooked or prepared rice here, but had prepared everything at home in advance and put it whole into his inventory.
'This way, I can greatly reduce meal time.'
You have to be careful about meal times inside the Gates, too. That's why in the Primeval Forest, he mostly made do with block food, which he really hated.
The result of trying to somehow reduce eating block food was to put entire meal tables into his inventory.
'I only ate half a bowl, so it's a bit insufficient, but this is better.'
He deliberately only ate half a bowl of rice. If he got too full, his mind would become loose, and his tension would be released.
He ate just enough to moderately satisfy his hunger and enjoy the taste, then cleaned up. And when he took out his sword, to maintained his weapons.
'...! Someone's coming.'
He felt a blue flame. A flame that appeared at the very edge of his detection ability.
In straight-line distance, it wasn't that far, but this was an underground labyrinth full of winding passages. The actual distance would be quite far.
Still, just in case, Jin-woo stamped out the campfire. Then he took out more blackout curtains and covered the flames next to the altar, too.
Perhaps because they were cold flames, even when covered with curtains, they only puffed up like a hot air balloon but didn't burn or anything.
'Please pass by without knowing.'
No light was leaking out at all. This should be enough for them to pass by without knowing.
No, in the first place, they might not even come to this passage where the altar was. It was a labyrinth with passages twisted in such a complex way. Thinking about it that way, his response was perhaps a bit excessive.
But.
'...They're getting closer.'
The blue flame was getting closer and closer. Passing through various passages and drawing a winding route, it was steadily approaching this way.
There was no hesitation at all in those footsteps. The underground labyrinth was divided and entangled in various branches, so one would expect them to stop and think at least once.
But the flame approached without stopping at all. It was as if they already knew this location and were coming to find it.